Australian Paralympic Committee managed sport

Total investment 2016-17: $3,601,728 - this includes $2,520,522 for APC operations, $300,000 for participation, $724,206 for Paralympic sports managed by the APC and $57,000 in other funding.

ASC funding as a percentage of total income: 23%

As well as overseeing the preparation of the Australian team for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games and the delivery of cross-sector programs, the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) directly manages three Australia’s Winning Edge high performance programs:

Wheelchair Rugby

The program achieved its target of a gold medal at the Rio Paralympics, defending its title from London. The program has good leadership from its head coach, and sound strategy and support underpinning its success. The level of competition at the 2016 Games was the closest yet with all games between the top-five teams decided by very small margins, and several going into overtime. Planning across the four-year cycle by the head coach and support staff ensured the team had enough high-quality athletes and embedded team tactics to succeed. The coach and support staff engaged the NIN throughout the Paralympic cycle to ensure athletes received the required support in their daily training environments.

Boccia

The program’s low resource base continues to limit its growth and presents challenges to adequately support its high performance activities. Nevertheless, in 2016 it qualified Dan Michel for Rio, Australia’s first Paralympic representative since the Sydney 2000 Games. He finished 15th in the BC3 classification. Resourcing for coaching in the daily training environment will need to be addressed in order to be successful in the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games cycle.

Goalball

The Australian women’s team qualified late for Rio, after the exclusion of Russia. The program came close to realising its top-eight objective for the 2013–2016 cycle finishing ninth in Rio. This was a credible result given its lack of preparation, tying 2-all with the Ukraine and then defeated 2–5 by China. Considerable work is required on the sport’s underpinning structures to give it a better prospect of achieving high performance outcomes during the Tokyo cycle.

Governance commentary

The APC is progressing with its governance reform and has been working to make the necessary changes in line with the ASC’s Mandatory Sports Governance Principles, including improved gender balance and the development of a three-year strategic plan. A key action for the next 12 months is to appoint an external and independent chartered accountant or certified practising accountant to the audit and risk committee. The APC will also benefit from conducting a board evaluation in 2017.